1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an armature with windings and a method of connecting winding ends of an armature to a terminal.
2. Description of the Related Art
The winding ends of an armature such as a stator and rotor are connected to power input parts such as a connector and terminal plate. In general, to connect winding ends to power input parts, soldering, wire crimping, insulation crimping, and other methods are employed. The method of connection using soldering includes a step of inserting stripped winding ends into solder pots of the connector. The method of connection using wire crimping includes a step of inserting stripped winding ends into a crimp terminal, while the method of connection using insulation crimping includes a step of inserting unstripped winding ends into a crimp terminal. Wire crimping or insulation crimping is used to join the winding ends to a crimp terminal, and then the crimp terminal is further connected to a connector or terminal plate.
In relation to this, JP 2010-110168A proposes a method of connecting a winding, which uses a vertical multi-articulated robot to insert winding ends of a motor coil into a tubular crimp terminal. In particular, in the method of connecting a winding of JP 2010-110168A, in order to ensure that the winding ends are reliably inserted into the crimp terminal, a guide member for guiding the winding ends toward an opening part of the crimp terminal needs to be attached to the crimp terminal in advance. Further, JP H07-009369A proposes a manipulator for connecting a conductor which uses a strain gauge to detect insert force acting on a conductor while the conductor is being inserted into an insert opening of the terminal plate, and judge the connected state of the conductor based on the pattern of change of the detected insert force.
With respect to the insert depth of the winding ends of an armature into a tubular crimp terminal, it is known that there is an optimal value inherent to each crimp terminal. If the insert depth of the winding ends is insufficient, the connecting parts of the winding ends and the crimp terminal may be abnormally heated during operation of the armature, and is broken due to insufficient strength of the connecting parts. FIG. 6 is a schematic view which shows a conventional winding connecting system which uses a vertical multi-articulated robot to insert winding ends into a crimp terminal. The winding connecting system of FIG. 6 operates a robot R which has a hand which can grip windings 81 of an armature 8 so as to insert winding ends 81T into a tubular crimp terminal 90. The winding connecting system of the present example, like the system of JP 2010-110168A, uses a tubular guide member 91 which guides the winding ends 81T toward an opening part 901 of the crimp terminal 90. As shown in FIG. 6, the crimp terminal 90 and the guide member 91 are connected concentrically. A top surface 911 of the guide member 91 is slanted downward toward in the inside in the radial direction.
For this reason, if the winding ends 81T are inserted into the guide member 91 from above, the top surface 911 and the inner circumferential surface 912 of the guide member 91 guide the winding ends 81T toward the open part 901 of the crimp terminal 90. However, as shown in FIG. 6, if there is an upward facing ring-shaped surface 903 between the inner circumferential surface 912 of the guide member 91 and the inner circumferential surface 902 of the crimp terminal 90, some winding ends 81T may abut against the ring-shaped surface 903 and be stopped. In this case, even if a user tries to confirm whether the winding ends 81T have been inserted into the crimp terminal 90 up to a suitable depth during visual checking or using a visual sensor, it is difficult for the user to accurately identify the positions of the winding ends 81T which have been inserted into the crimp terminal 90 or the guide member 91.
An armature which enables confirmation of whether winding ends have been inserted into a tubular terminal up to a suitable depth has been sought.